Chapter 12 - The Air Behind the Glass
The chemical vapor spread through the observation room like pale smoke.
Michael immediately tore off his jacket and pressed it over Ethan’s mouth and nose. Buddy jumped onto the chair, barking at the glass as Daniel searched desperately for a manual release.
“There has to be an override!” Dr. Carter shouted.
Marcus dragged Bell away from the broken vial and forced him against the floor.
“Turn it off!”
Bell coughed and laughed.
“The system is automatic.”
Daniel struck the emergency panel with the metal edge of the black box. Sparks burst from the wall, but the steel shutters remained locked.
Behind the glass, Ethan’s eyes began to close.
Michael pulled at the ropes around his son’s wrists.
“Stay awake, buddy.”
Ethan’s voice was barely audible.
“You came back.”
Michael’s hands stopped for half a second.
“Yes.”
“You really came back?”
“I never stopped trying.”
Buddy suddenly leaped from the chair and scratched at a rusted ventilation grate near the floor.
Daniel noticed.
“The dog found something.”
He ran to the opposite side of the wall and found a matching grate outside the observation room. Marcus helped him tear it loose.
The opening was narrow.
Too small for an adult.
But large enough for Buddy.
Daniel crouched beside the retriever.
“Find Ethan.”
Buddy crawled into the dark shaft without hesitation.
Seconds later, he emerged inside the sealed room. Michael removed a small metal tag from Buddy’s collar and pushed it into a hidden slot beneath the ventilation panel.
A section of the wall clicked open.
Dr. Carter stared.
“Michael installed an emergency bypass.”
Michael pulled Ethan through the narrow maintenance hatch first. Daniel reached inside and dragged the boy safely through.
Laura collapsed beside her son.
“Ethan, look at me.”
His pulse was weak.
Dr. Carter injected him with medication from her emergency kit while Olivia placed an oxygen mask over his face.
Michael crawled out last.
The moment his feet touched the floor, Marcus aimed his weapon at him.
“Drop the gun.”
Michael obeyed.
Bell remained on the ground, smiling through blood on his lip.
“You saved him from the vapor,” he said. “But not from what’s already inside him.”
Dr. Carter turned sharply.
“What does that mean?”
Bell looked toward Ethan.
“The compound was never the real danger.”
Michael’s face changed.
“Don’t.”
Bell smiled wider.
“The boy’s treatment has been activating something else.”
Laura grabbed Michael’s arm.
“What is he talking about?”
Michael stared at Ethan’s monitor.
“He’s talking about a genetic marker.”
Dr. Carter looked confused.
“What marker?”
Michael whispered,
May you like
“The reason the foundation chose Ethan in the first place.”
Before anyone could demand an answer, Ethan’s heart monitor released one continuous tone.
